


The Purpose of Marriage, To Know That You Are Loved

by sign_from_god_complex



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: But a nontraditional marriage proposal, Established Relationship, Fluff, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, It's all sap, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, cause it's more fun that way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 06:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17575673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sign_from_god_complex/pseuds/sign_from_god_complex
Summary: Roman had been thinking about it for a while now, and although this wasn’t exactly the way he had expected to propose, he certainly didn’t regret it.





	The Purpose of Marriage, To Know That You Are Loved

**Author's Note:**

> Catch me out here with my long, weird titles. Also, I’ve started writing two entirely new fics instead of continuing on with A Gift From Me To You, so I think I’m truly getting the fanfiction author experience now. Hope you enjoy this, though!!
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr!! ~ [sign-from-god-complex](https://sign-from-god-complex.tumblr.com/) ~

“Marry me?”

There was a shocked silence in the darkened room as the other three occupants processed what had just been said. Roman could see the vague outline of one of his boyfriends, Virgil he thought, turning to look at him incredulously.

It was an impulsive thought, sure, but at the same time, it wasn’t. The four of them had all been together for over a year and a half now, and every second of it had been the best of Roman’s life. Things had been hard at times, of course—they all had their own issues they were trying to work through—but Roman truly felt safe with the three of them. Safer than he’d ever felt with anyone else before, including his family. It may be selfish, but he wanted to keep that forever.

Roman had been thinking about it for months, really. He may not have necessarily expected to be asking right now, but he just hadn’t been able to help himself.

They were laying in the dark in what had previously been Roman’s bedroom but had quickly become their shared room after they’d realised Roman had the largest bed. Roman’s hand was stroking through Patton’s hair, listening to his small noises of contentment. Logan and Virgil were curled up on the other half of the bed behind Patton, though Roman knew that Patton had shoved his legs over in their direction, unwilling to let the two of them cuddle alone.

The moonlight had shone in through the blinds between parted clouds, illuminating the scene for just a long enough moment for Roman’s heart to swell. He _loved_ them. He was so sure. If they said yes, Roman was going to spend the rest of his life telling them, watching Patton giggle and Virgil blush and Logan sigh. In this moment—this perfect moment—Roman’s insecurities were pushed away and he was so, _so_ sure.

“Roman,” Logan sounded strangled, “You know that we can’t. Get married that is. It’s not legal.”

Polyamory still wasn’t accepted, or even really known, by the general public. It wasn’t surprising of course, but it definitely made things slightly harder for them in some areas. If they were ever going to adopt a child, for instance—though that was an entirely different conversation, one that hopefully was much further away—and if they wanted to get married. But Roman wasn’t lying when he said he’d thought about this.

“I know that, Specs, but weren’t you and Virgil the ones telling me that weddings were, and I quote, ‘outdated expensive pageantry’? And, loathe as I was to admit it at the time, in some ways you were right. The point of a wedding shouldn’t be to _get married_ -”

“It shouldn’t?”

Patton was staring up at him in the darkness, sounding extremely confused. Roman smiled brightly down at him, though he was unsure if Patton could see it.

“No! Well, I mean… yes, but not ultimately! The point of a wedding is to put love on display!” Roman waved his arm in an arc above his head, hearing Patton giggle at the gesture. “Would it be nice to have the legal system recognise our commitment to each other? Absolutely. But, quite honestly—and I never thought I’d say this—I am perfectly as content with having a small party with our close friends, just having an evening where I can fully appreciate the three of you and declare to the heavens and beyond how much I love you. Because I _do_ love you all. So much.”

There was silence for a few seconds, and Roman worried that maybe he’d gone overboard and was being too clingy. The quiet was broken however by a choked sound from Patton and he looked down to see tears pooling in his eyes, a massive grin on his face. Logan and Virgil had both sat up at this point and had shifted over slightly closer to Patton and himself. He could still only really make out their silhouettes in the darkness, but Roman could see Virgil leaning against Logan, the latter of which was wiping suspiciously at his face.

“Oh my _god_ , someone turn the lights on,” Roman heard Virgil say, his voice wavering but full of affection, “There is no way you are getting out of giving us a real proposal, you absolute _dork_.”

Patton lifted his head of off Roman’s chest, instead situating himself between Logan and Virgil. Climbing out of bed and turning the lights on, Roman spun around to see his boyfriends. They were all in slight states of disarray, considering they had just been about to go to sleep before Roman had dropped this on them, but to Roman, they looked as perfect as ever.

They watched him move back towards the bed with shining eyes, Logan and Virgil barely containing their smiles and Patton still beaming. Roman gave them a dazzling grin in response, causing Virgil to snort and Logan to roll his eyes.

And there, in his room, at 11 pm, wearing a Disney princess shirt and Patton’s borrowed cat pyjama pants, Roman got down on one knee.

“Patton, Logan, Virgil. The three of you are the most important people I have ever known in my entire life. Every second I have spent with you has been a blessing-”

Logan opened his mouth, but Roman cut him off before he could speak.

“Yes! Even the time you, Virgil and I almost set fire to the house in an attempt to cook Patton breakfast in bed, resulting in all 3 of us receiving superficial burns and having to go to the emergency room. That moment is still included because although it was one of the less-fun trips to the ER I’ve been a part of, it was still time spent with the three of you. And I cherish that. Every second I can get.”

Logan shut his mouth, a soft look in his eyes. Roman proceeded.

“Patton, you are the sweetest, most kind person I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Your light is so warm and bright and I treasure every moment I am allowed to bask in it. From the moment I first saw you—taking time out of your day to help a little kid find their parents, managing to stop the tears with just a smile and a joke—I knew you were going to have a big place in my life, though I don’t think I ever could have predicted just how big.

“Even on your bad days, you’d drop everything to help someone who needed it and it’s so incredibly admirable. You don’t always have to be strong though, my love. Sometimes, you need to let other people care for you the way you care for them. You’re allowed to be sad and I want to be there to help you through every moment that you are, because you deserve that and much, much more.”

Patton was crying freely now, tears streaming down his face. He’d leant back against Virgil who had wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him closer. Roman watched as Virgil pressed a soft kiss to the top of Patton’s head and smiled.

“Virgil, although I may be a clueless moron all of the time, I’m not such a moron that I can’t see how lucky I am to know you. I was stupid in the early days of our friendship, not understanding that your cautious nature is something to be recognised and understood, instead of mocked the way I had. I’m quite sure you’ve saved my life on more than one occasion, just by stopping me from going through with my ill-advised plans, and even just by being there for me. By granting me with a kindness I hadn’t shown you.

“Because that cautious nature of yours presents as more than just anxiety. It presents as concern for others’ wellbeing and care when your friends are feeling down and _fierce_ protection and loyalty to those you consider worth your time. And I could never be more grateful that I was allowed a place amongst those people.”

“Geez, save something for the wedding vows,” Virgil quipped, but his eyes were full of tears.

“Logan,” Roman continued, addressing the last of his boyfriends, “Your intelligence is dazzling, we all know that. Almost every day you teach us something new, whether that’s the scientific names of various vegetables, the relationship between anxiety and achievement, or even just pointing out constellations for us. And I know I like to pretend like I don’t listen or care, but I promise I do. But, dear, there is so much more to you than your intelligence. Logan, you are _fun_.”

At that admission, Logan’s eyebrows shot up, the shock on his face evident. Roman doubted that anyone had called Logan fun before. Something he needed to rectify.

“I know I haven’t been very good at showing or articulating how much I enjoy spending time with you, but I _do_. I love debating with you about useless topics, I love assisting you in your science experiments and I love watching you glare at the crossword in the mornings because the caffeine hasn’t caught up with your brain yet, and you're struggling to remember your own name.

“But most of all, I love when you squirm your way into my arms as I’m sitting on the couch, grumbling and telling me to shut up. Because you feel comfortable around me, for some reason, and that’s a privilege I could never take for granted.”

Logan was crying too now, but he tried to cover it up by holding a hand against his face, though not in such a way that it blocked his view of Roman kneeling down there on the carpet.

“Patton Gabriel Hart, Virgil Alexander Moore and Logan Crofters McKenzie-”

“You are aware that that is not my middle name, correct?”

The look Logan was giving him was full of tears and warmth and Roman had to blink back tears of his own in an attempt to keep his composure. He shot him a crooked smile.

“Well, then _what_ is it?”

Logan just laughed, shaking his head.

Roman let out a teasing sigh, “Worth a try.”

“So!” he continued, “Patton Gabriel Hart, Virgil Alexander Moore and Logan McKenzie, I’m quite sure in another life we would have been soulmates. Truly, we fit together in a way that I can barely comprehend, but I never wish to miss out on a single second of it. Will you do me the incredible honour of spending the rest of your lives with me?”

Roman watched as his three boyfriends shared a look and then before he could even recognise the danger, they all tackled him, knocking him over onto the rug. There was laughter ringing in his ears and warmth— _so much warmth_ —all around him. His face was wet from scattered tears but he didn’t notice, his entire being wrapped up in his boyfriends, in the experience of so much love and joy focused in one place.

One by one they all pulled away, leaving Roman laying on the floor as he took a moment to get his breath back.

“Roman, you are… captivating.”

Roman propped himself up on his elbows at Logan’s comment, somewhat confused. The three of them were sitting up, watching him with so much affection in their eyes.

“You are full of life, absolutely brimming with it, always romanticising every aspect of your existence. At first, I thought this to be foolish and setting yourself up for heartbreak, but I now realise that you are not ignorant to the way the world is, you just choose to appreciate the small things. Making sure that you take happiness where you can get it. That is truly admirable.”

Roman smiled. His boyfriends just couldn’t let him have the last word, could they? Though, truly he didn’t mind. How could he possibly mind?

Virgil spoke up next, “You’re so passionate and dedicated to everything you do. Sometimes that passion can be a little bit overwhelming to witness, but mostly it’s… inspiring.”

Roman inhaled slightly in shock. _Inspiring?_ He hardly thought anything he did merited such a label.

“You know that I’m a little, well, a lot anxious, about putting myself out there; the cost of rejection just seems too high, you know? But, watching you come home from auditions, watching you create and create despite every time you’ve been turned down because it’s something you _love_ to do… it’s inspiring, yeah. Makes me feel like there’s a way to get past anything, no matter how hurt you may feel in the moment.”

Roman could tell he was crying again, though he didn’t really think too hard on it, instead pushing himself up so that he was sitting alongside the other three. Patton beamed at Roman, taking the reins from Virgil and leading on.

“You live your life like you’re always in the spotlight. Always providing the audience with a smile, radiating confidence, even when you don’t truly feel it.” He laughed a little self-deprecatingly. “It’s something we have in common.”

Roman gave a comforting smile to Patton, trying to somehow telepathically communicate reassurance. Patton returned with a small smile of his own.

“But,” he continued, “We get to see you backstage too and that’s _amazing_. We get to see you grow and learn and change, we get to see you at the moments where you don’t feel like the dazzling star you are and we are all so, so happy that you trust us with that. Because it means that we can show you just how wonderful you truly are. We’ll spend the rest of our lives showing you if that’s what it takes.”

Roman was positively glowing.

“Was that a yes then?”

“Yes, Roman,” Logan finally said, “We would be honoured to marry you.”

The next few minutes were kind of a blur. He vaguely remembered lifting Virgil up into the air, much to his fiancé's— _fiancé!_ —protests, and spinning him around, laughing and crying all at once. He definitely kissed each of them at least once, and somehow he’d ended up in Patton’s arms, revelling in the surety they provided. Logan and Virgil had decided to join in too, wrapping their arms around both Patton and Roman as best as they were able to.

It was warm, it was likely a bit uncomfortable but, _god,_ it was perfect. He wanted to be surrounded by his fiancés like this forever, and now, he could.


End file.
